Gigi Hadid’s real name isn’t Gigi

We have some hard-hitting news for you that might ruin your day. Or it might totally make your day. Or it might be completely irrelevant to your life. Either way, it’s news we’re going to share with you: Supermodel Gigi Hadid’s real name isn’t Gigi, you guys. In fact, the name she was given at birth isn’t even a derivative of Gigi, but it does start with a “g” sound, so at least there’s that.

Her real name is… Jelena.

Gigi Hadid is actually Jelena Noura Hadid, and now nothing will ever be the same again. OKAY, yes it will. But hey, it’s a fun fact to know.

Seventeen just brought this news to our attention, but back in 2015 in an interview with Vogue, Gigi/Jelena told the story of how she got her nickname. And while it’s a pretty anticlimactic situation, we totally get the reason for the name change.

“My mom was called that [Gigi] as a kid by her mother when she was younger, but only around the house," Gigi told Vogue. "I was called that around the house when I was really young. In first or second grade, there was a girl named Helena and it got confusing with the teacher who had to call out our names, and so the teacher asked my mom, ‘If I needed to call Jelena a nickname, what would it be?’ And my mom was like, ‘I call her Gigi sometimes,’ and the name stuck.

 And just like that, Jelena became Gigi.